This invention is an improvement on the terminal clamp shown and described in my earlier U.S. Pat. No. 3,744,012 which in turn makes reference to a number of earlier patents, all having to do with the securement of wires within a pocket of a terminal body -- widely used in the electrical and electronics industries.
It will be appreciated that terminal connections are so widely used in every facet of life today, housing, commerce, industry, etc., that the numbers produced are virtually astronomical. It should also be appreciated that in the majority of instances, the terminal clamps are relatively small (less than 1/2 inch in diameter) so that hand assembly is not only difficult but time consuming. It would therefore be desirable to automate not only the installation of screw terminal clamps but also their manufacture -- and while improving upon the reliability of the clamping function. More particularly, it is an object of this invention to provide a part that can be hoppered, picked up by the driver bit, transferred to the fixture having the electrical end product so oriented, drive the "screw", tighten the screw, and free the pickup grip of the driver as the driver recedes from the screw -- all this being done on automated equipment not previously practical in the prior art. To achieve this end, I have incorporated a number of novel structures within a terminal clamp. Among these are the provision of a generally circular clamping plate equipped with serrations around the periphery adapted to engage rib-like structures on the sidewalls of the receiving pocket, thereby eliminating the need for carefully orienting the clamping plate during installation while at the same time preventing undesirable rotation (and possible loosening) when the clamp is installed. The clamping plate is equipped with unique chamfers which cooperate with unique annulets on the screw shank just under the head so as to develop a four point contact between the plate and the screw, wire and pocket. This results in an extraordinarily high degree of reliability of the installation as against inadvertent detachment. The clamping plate is maintained in place on the screw shank by means of a unique interrupted annulet spaced from the screw head which is conveniently provided incident to the thread forming operation. The clamping plate is further characterized by the provision of radially extending ribs outstanding from radially spaced grooves in the faces thereof to bightingly engage the wire or wires clamped thereunder and thereby insure permanence of installation. Still further, I provide a unique configuration in the driving aperture in the screw head which facilitates the use of automated equipment. The provision of these structures and the realization of the advantages derived therefrom constitute important objectives of this invention. Other objectives can be appreciated from the details of construction and operation set down in the enusing specification.